Guru Purnima Festival Celebrated With Joy
The B.A.P.S. Swaminarayan Mandir celebrated the Guru Purnima festival on Sunday, July 13th. More than 2,200 devotees of all ages came to honor this auspicious occasion and pay respects to their divine Guru, His Divine Holiness (HDH) Pramukh Swami Maharaj. He is the spiritual head of the B.A.P.S. Swaminarayan Movement across the world, and the Guru Purnima Festival is dedicated to him as well as the other spiritual heads that came before him. The festival began with a Mahapuja at approximately 10.45 AM. About 150 people took advantage of this grand puja and paid obeisance to their Guru.
Kids ranging from age 5 to age 10 started off the festivities with Dhoon and Prarthana. Then older youths started singing kirtans that glorified all the Spiritual Heads of the B.A.P.S. Swaminarayan Movement. Pujya Shant Swami gave a speech highlighting the importance of finding the right Guru. There was an exhilarating qawaali sung by the Pujari of the Mandir and the older youths. When they sang a raas, many people got up to dance to the kirtans that glorified their Guru. Once the devotees finished their prayers, they went to eat a traditional Gujarati meal (Mahaprasadam), which was made by the volunteers of the Mandir.
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